According to the latest Portuguese Housing Market Survey it is predicted that house sales in Portugal will continue to rise in the next three months.
The report showed that Lisbon was "the only region where there has been an increase in the level of house sales, Oporto remains stable and the Algarve shows a slight decrease."
The Confidence Indicator is higher too, showing "the best result since the survey was launched in 2010 and only the third time this indicator registered a positive reading."
Sales may be on the up, but prices continue to drop, " it is projected that there will be further falls in the next three months."
Rents also continue to decline, a trend that is expected to remain in the short-term.
The report is produced by Confidencial Imobiliário (Ci) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
"Feedback from real estate agents who participated in the survey reflected some positive expectations, driven by an improved economic environment," said Ricardo Guimaraes, the Director of Ci who explained that agents "also have some concerns that results are still being affected by the persistence of strong credit restrictions imposed by financial institutions."
Já Josh Miller added that "the investigation highlights the gradual improvement observed in the market, in particular with regard to activity levels."
The RICS senior economist explained that "there is still a long way to go before these trends can be considered truly sustainable” and in the meantime pressure on prices, a lack of bank credit and gradually improving sales levels make the Algarve a good place to buy, but a hard place to be if selling.
